The Origin of Chinese as Considered from the Typological Status of Karen among the Tibet-Burman Group of Languages

本研究旨在从克理奥尔化的角度对自然语言的历时发展机制进行初步的个案研究。通过彻底澄清一种历史上没有很好记载的语言的句法结构的系统功能，特别是在目前的情况下，应该尝试作为一个整体来确定这种语言的语言类型。然而，正如本报告的主要部分一再暗示的那样，到目前为止，关于卡伦的信息很少。因此，本研究的主要目的在于收集和分析这种语言的语言数据，作为一种准备研究，以便在不久的将来进行更广泛的调查。正如一开始所预期的那样，完全缺乏记录克伦语出现的语言数据，而历史记录显然表明…更多的NIC更改--具体地说，从“动词结尾”到“动词中间”语法--也是不可用的。然而，目前对现在的克伦的句法结构的系统调查的结果明确地指出，除了紧跟在主题之后的语法引力之外，必须在句尾假设另一种语法引力，这表明句法模式(仍然)映射到了部分动词-最后。尽管这一事实并没有直接暗示语言的“克里奥里化”特征，但它有力地表明，尽管句法动词被放置在话题-NP之后的中间位置，但它也可能像现代汉语一样，表现为一种“混合型”语言，既表现出“动尾式”句法的特点，又表现出“动中式”句法的特点。有趣的是，从一般语言学的角度来看，“动词化”也表明所谓的“动词串行化”是句法变化的可能途径。虽然句法动词的中间位置可能是由于洋金阶段的“偶然”造成的，但句法变化的进一步发展恰恰表明了克伦化，句尾的“语法引力”的系统地位可能起到非常重要的作用。由于已经收集了如此多的基本数据来对普通语言学的问题做出贡献，我们现在可以预期，通过与该地区周围语言的类型学比较，进一步的普通调查将会受益匪浅。较少

The present research was planned to serve as an elementary case study investigating into mechanisms of diachronic development in natural languages from a viewpoint of the notion of "creolization". By way of thoroughly clarifying the systematic function of syntactic structures of a historically not well-documented language, concretely Karen in the present case, it should be attempted, as a whole, at determining the linguistic type of this language. As is repeatedly hinted upon in the main part of this report, however, there has been little information on Karen hitherto. It is, therefore, only natural that the main purpose of the present research lies in gathering and analyzing linguistic data from this language as a kind of preparatory research for a more general investigation to be carried out before long.As has been expected from the beginning, linguistic data which document the emergence of the Karen language are altogether lacking and historical records apparently indicating diachro … More nic changes-concretely from "verb-final" to "verb-medial" syntax-are not available, either. However, the result of the present systematic investigation into the syntactic structures of the present-day Karen unequivocally points out that another "grammatical gravitation" than the one just after the topic must be assumed at the end of the sentence, suggesting syntactic patterns are (still) mapped "verb-finally" in part. Although this fact does not immediately hint upon the "creolizing" character of the language, it strongly suggests that Karen may be typified as a kind of "hybrid" language, exactly as Modern Chinese, showing both characteristics of the "verb-final" and the "verb-medial" syntaxs in spite of its placement of the syntactic verb at the medial position directly after the topic-NP.Interestingly enough from a general linguistic point of view, Karen also shows the so-called "Verb Serialization" as a possible pass-way of syntactic change. While the medial placement of the syntactic verb may have been caused rather "accidentally" as the stage of pidgin, the further development of the syntactic change exactly indicate the creolization of Karen, whereby the systematic status of the "grammatical gravitation" at the end of the sentence may play an extra-ordinary important role. As so much basic data have been collected to contribute to issues in general linguistics, we may now expect to profit much from further general in vestigations utilizing typological comparison with the surrounding languages in this region. Less